Setting of cutting topls



April 7, 1970 A. J. ALLEN SETTING'OF CUTTING TOOLS 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 5, 1967 April 7, 1970 A. J. ALLEN 3,504,442

SETTING OF CUTTING TOOLS Filed April 5, 1967 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 ifl j/ [6 Q //d 4 W Q /j H A ril 7, 1910 A. J. ALLEN 3,504,442

SETTING 0F CUTTING TOOLS Filed April :5, 1967 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 llllll A ril 7, 1970 A. J. ALLEN 3,504,442

SETTING OF CUTTING TOOLS Filed April 5, 1967 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 United States Patent f US. Cl. 33--185 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A device for setting cutting tools combined with adjustable adaptors makes use of a swinging arm carrying a gauging surface or a clock indicator gauge. The arm is not adjustable along the column which supports it, but each tool type to be reset is fitted with a thimble of appropriate length to coact with the gauging means on the arm.

This invention relates to the setting of cutting tools for mounting on tool carying parts of machine tools, such as spindles. Such munting is frequently effected by engaging the tools with adaptors which can be inserted into bores in the tool-carrying parts. It is clearly of considerable importance in most applications to ensure that the tools project by the correct distances from the tool carrying parts. This is achieved by presetting one or more locking nuts on each of the externally screw-threaded adaptors and then inserting the adaptors into the toolcarrying parts until the locking nuts abut against the tool-carrying parts.

Presetting of the individual locking nuts has in the past usually been efifected by using a device having a base carrying dummy tool-carrying parts into which adaptors of various sizes can be fitted. The device also included a swingable arm mounted for adjustment towards and away from the base, the arm having a gauging surface directed towards the base against which the tip of a tool is to be abutted. The use of this device involves first setting the gauging surface at the desired height above the base and then fitting the adaptor and tool before setting the nut to a position in which the tip of the tool abuts the gauging surface. This system is unduly difficult to employ when it is desired to set a plurality of tools of different length, or where it is necessary to gauge a cutting surface other than on a tip. In addition a construction in which both axial and swinging movements of the arm are necessary, may lack rigidity.

It will be appreciated that other forms of adjustable adaptor can also be employed for mounting tools both in rotary spindles and other, nonrotary, tool-carrying parts. It is an object of the invention to provide a convenient device for the setting of tools combined with adjustable adaptors.

According to the invention, there is provided a device comprising a base, a plurality of dummy tool-carrying parts on said base, an arm mounted for swinging movement and having thereon gauging means, the dummy toolcarrying parts being arranged on an arc around the axis of said arm, and a plurality of thimbles adapted to be fitted on tools with adaptors carried by the dummy toolcarrying parts and designed so that when the adaptors are correctly set, gauging surfaces on the thimbles are all disposed at a predetermined distance from said base to coact with said gauging means.

Thus with a plurality of different thimbles a like number of tools can be set on the device without making any adjustments thereto.

Reference is now made to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of one example of a tool 35%,442 Patented Apr. 7, 1970 setting device in accordance with the invention incorporating a swinging gauge arm;

FIGURE 2 is a section on line 22 in FIGURE 1 but with the gauge arm turned through FIGURES 3, 4 and 5 are respectively fragmentary sections on lines 3-3, 44 and 5-5 in FIGURE 1, and

FIGURE 6 is a cross section as on line 66 in FIG- URE 1 of a modified form of the invention.

Referring to the drawings the device shown is such that rotary cutting tools can be set prior to mounting them on tool-carrying parts in the form of machine tool spindles. The device comprises a substantial base 10 on which there is mounted a rigid, upstanding column 11. Arranged on the base 10 on an arc struck from the axis of the column 11 is a plurality of rigidly mounted dummy spindles 12. Each dummy spindle 12 has a bore 12a adapted to receive a given size adaptor 13, and there is one dummy spindle 12 for each bore/length combination of the spindles for which tools are to be set.

Mounted on the top of the column is an arm 14 carried on suitable bearings 15 which allow easy but accurate swinging of the arm 14 without any loss of rigidity. The underside of the arm 14 has a hard metal pad 16 formed with a gauging surface 16a parallel with base 10.

There are also provided a plurality of different thimbles 17, 18, 19, etc., each adapted to be placed on the tip of a tool of a given type and size. The dimensions of each thimble are such that when in position on a tool of the right type held in a properly adjusted adaptor 13 in the required dummy spindle 12 a gauging surface 17a, 18a, 19a, etc., on the thimble will be at a predetermined height above the base 16. This height corresponds closely to the height of the gauging surface on the arm, so that these surfaces can abut together.

Clearly the thimbles should be of adequate length for them to locate steadily on the tools. In some cases such as countersinking and form tools as shown in FIG- URES 4 and 5, respectivelythe thimble might have machined surfaces to abut a part of the tool other than the tip thereof. If desired each thimble may have a stepped end surface to permit the use of Go and Not Go tolerance gauging techniques.

In use it will be seen that a tool requiring resetting can easily be placed in the correct dummy spindle 12, have the necessary thimble placed over its end and then be adjusted until the gauging surface 17a, etc. on the thimble is in the correct position relative to the gauging surface 16a on the arm.

To be made specific in relation to the various dummy spindle/thimble combinations actually shown, that of FIGURE 2 is for a long twist drill 22. The thimble 17 consists of a sleeve 1711 which fits on the drill and an end piece 17c fitted into a counterbore in the sleeve 17b and which is provided with the stepped gauging surface 17a. Since the drill 22 is long its tip falls only slightly short of the gauging surface 16a. The sleeve 17b need therefore be comparatively short to obtain the desired steadying effect.

In FIGURE 3 there is shown a spot facing tool 23 with hard metal tip inserts 23a on a tip portion 23b of reduced diameter. The sleeve portion 18b of the thimble 18 is long enough to fit on to the shank of the tool 23 for steadying and the end piece 18c locates on the tip inserts 23a.

The form tool 24 of FIGURE 4 has a shaped tip portion with two sizes of inserts 24a, 241), the first to ream a bore into which the tool is inserted and the second to shape the mouth of the bore. Once again the sleeve 1% is long enough to fit on to the shank of the tool 24, whilst the end piece is reamed out to receive the 3 inserts 24a and shaped at its mouth to locate on the inserts 24b.

The drill and countersink tool 25 of FIGURE 5 has a drill tip portion 25a which is of reduced diameter and an inclined shoulder 2511 cut away to form cutting edges which form the countersink bit. As mentioned previously the thimble is arranged to locate on the shoulder b and is stabilized by the drill tip portion 25a.

In an alternative form of the invention a clock indicator may be mounted on the arm 14 instead of the gauging pad 16. The feeler 31 of the indicator would, of course, project downwardly to be engageable with the gauging surfaces 21a on the thimble 21. It will be noted that the periphery of the surface 21a is bevelled to coact with the feeler 31.

The invention may also be applied to the setting of tools for use on nonrotary tool-carrying parts of machine tools in which the workpieces are rotated. In this case the dummy spindles would be replaced by dummy toolcarrying parts simulating the actual tool-carrying parts which the tools are to be set and arranged to support the tool and its adaptor at the desired height relative to the gauging surface on the swingable arm.

Having this described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A device for use in the presetting of tools combined with adjustable adaptors, comprising the combination of a base, a rigid upstanding column on the base, an arm mounted on the upper end of the column at a fixed distance from the base for swinging movement about an axis perpendicular to the base, gauging means on said arm determining a datum plane at a fixed height above the base, a plurality of dummy tool-carrying parts on said base arranged in an are around said axis, and a plurality of thimbles each having an internal surface form peculiar to a specific tool to be set on the device whereby said thimble is accurately located on said specific tool by interengagement of a part of said internal surface of the thimble with an axial dimension determining part of said specific tool, each thimble also comprising an external gauge surface so positioned in relation to said part of the internal surface that, when the thimble is fitted to said specific tool with the adaptor of such tool appropriately adjusted and fitted in an appropriate one of the dummy tool carrying parts, said external surface lies in said datum plane.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1 in which the gauging means on said arm comprises a gauging surface parallel to said base.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,046,296 12/1912 Himes 33185 2,500,224 3/ 1950 Werner et al. 33185 2,898,685 8/1959 Nordquist et al.

2,684,535 7/ 1954 Reicherter.

WILLIAM D. MARTIN, 111., Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 33169 

